Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology - Chapter 1156

Capítulo 1156: WW1: Cape Town (3)

“Boom!”

The first shot of the battle was fired, and naturally, it was from the Ramachandra class battleship that had a superior range and firepower. The 180-kilogramme round burst into the air as if its weight was as light as a feather. It cut through the atmosphere at 450 metres per second, reaching its fastest speed of Mach 1.3 within an instant.

Looking at the one hundred and eighty kilogram metal explosives hurtling toward them at speeds faster than sound, a trace of helplessness crept onto the faces of the European sailors. It was the kind of helplessness born from the knowledge that there was nothing they could do to refuse the invitation of Yama rushing toward them. They were as powerless as a ship struck by lightning.

In the end, with nothing left but hope, they prayed fervently in their hearts, some tracing crosses, others gripping the railings or anything firmly bolted to the deck, clinging to it as if their lives depended on it, because it did.

“BOOOM!!!”

The solid shot explosive plunged into the hull of a sovereign-class battleship as if it were a hot knife cutting through butter. The strong wooden structure offered no resistance whatsoever, and the pieces of wood scattered into the sea, shaking the ship violently.

“ahhh!”

Screams and shouts were immediately heard, and the sailors from within the ship came running in horror, informing the captain.

“Sir, seven sailors have been killed, and three of them have been heavily injured, and they are losing a lot of blood.”

A bearded white man frowned. “Seal the wounds with searing iron and patch the hole quickly,” he ordered, regaining his composure. But the very next second, his expression changed. A series of explosions thundered in rapid succession, and when he looked up at the sky, his face drained of all colour, turning pale and bloodless.

“Oh Lord, protect your lamb!” he cried, immediately dropping to his knees in fear.

The first shot had been nothing more than a test, fired to pave the way. Once it proved successful, the ten Ramachandra Class battleships, closing in from two directions like a massive pincer, unleashed the full firepower of their mighty weapons all at once.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

The first battery and the second battery were consecutively unleashed.

The four Thrishul Mk I rifled muzzle-loading naval guns and the eight Vajra Mk II rifled breech-loading guns were all left smoking, their barrels searing hot after just a single salvo. The sheer force of the discharge was so immense that the ship’s speed dipped momentarily under the recoil.

Admiral Sir Thomas Herbert, who was at the rear of the European formation, lowered the telescope with his eyes wide open and his heart palpitating as he saw nearly a hundred fireballs hurtling towards the coalition fleet.

In a brief moment of weakness, he couldn’t help but wonder if the war would even need to be fought, but he quickly recomposed himself, with his eyes turning sharp as he waited for the Bharatiyas to get in the range of their naval guns.

The devastation unleashed by the hundred shots was horrific. The battleships positioned at the ends of the three-point defensive formation were rendered useless almost instantly. Even from a distance, one could see them smoking and burning, their hulls slowly tilting as seawater poured in.

On the Bharatiya side, the Ramachandra Class battleships advanced like warhorses, surging forward without the slightest hesitation, while the sailors aboard them were the best of the best. Within a minute, the guns were reloaded, primed, and ready to fire once more.

Observing the damage caused to the enemy from a distance, Vijay could not help but smile in satisfaction.

The Bharatiya fleet closed in on the European coalition, and the second round of bombardment began without delay.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

But this time, the Delhi class battleships, Colombo class frigates, and Chennai class Clippers all took their aim and fired.

With thousands of artillery shells going up into the air, it was as if time had momentarily come to a halt. The English and the Dutch generals clenched their fists and hoped for the best.

The next moment, as if someone had pressed the fast-forward button, the artillery shells had lodged themselves into the bodies of the warships. No one could see what happened. One moment, they saw the shells in the air, and the next moment their ship was in tatters.

“Ahhh!”

Blood-curdling screams broke out from the European fleet. With the firepower increasing, the damage caused also increased several-fold.

“Oh lord!!”

General Hendrick van Nassau, the Dutch commander of the coalition’s armed forces, stood at the port as a mere spectator to the battle. As he witnessed the devastation inflicted upon the navy before it could even mount a response, he could not help but exclaim in shock.

A deep sense of foreboding rose within his heart.

On the Sovereign class battleship, General Sir Thomas Herbert’s eyes were bloodshot. Taking so much damage without even causing a single Bharatiya casualty was a shame. He felt deeply humiliated, and the rage that arose from the humiliation was consuming his entire being.

“FIRE BACK!!!”

He roared, “Aim only at those metal ships, blow them to smithereens!”

The eyes of Cornelius Tromp were bloodshot as well, so without hesitation, he relayed the orders using the flags.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

The counterattack began. In the first two bombardments of the Bharatiya fleet, they had managed to cripple more than a dozen European ships, but even then, there were more than 400 European warships. All 400 European warships were lined up in such a way that each of the ships had a complete view.

So when the order of fire was given, nearly 2000 cannonballs rose up into the air, all converging towards two specific points.

The Bharatiya Navy might be better equipped, but the fear of death was the same. The sailors prayed to their gods in their hearts and held on to the railing for their dear life.

“Boom!”

The cannonballs hit the Ramachandra class battleships at great velocity, but given that they were made using Chamundi WI 500 wrought iron plates made by Raya Iron and Steel, the cannonballs could not penetrate the hull. Though it left huge dents, that was about it. However, unfortunately, it was not just one or two cannonballs that came towards the Ramachandra class battleships that were spearheading the fleet; it was several thousands. Although most of the shots missed the ship and were spread across five different ships, a single ship still had over 50 to 60 cannonballs coming towards it.

All the Ramachandra class battleships rocked heavily, suffering various degrees of damage.

But in the end, they managed to pull through. After all, in the military tests done before the ship was put into military service, the survivability of the ship was tested against the Bharatiya Empire’s own cannons, which were superior to the Europeans’ in every respect.

Admiral Thomas Herbert widened his eyes in disbelief, seeing the two battle groups headed by the metal warships still approaching in a pincer formation.

The next moment, the Bharatiya fleet counterattacked.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

This time, even the light frigates and clippers came out from behind the larger ships and started unloading everything they had onto the European fleet.

“Brrrrrrrr!”

The Agni Sudra rapid fire machine guns, the Bhagat B-2 Navik Cruz missiles, the Shastra Prahar heavy machine guns, and the Multifire Volly guns. All unleashed their might with the Bharatiya fleet not holding anything back.

“Chance!” Vice Admiral Yashvardhan Keshav exclaimed and immediately looked towards his senior officer, “Launch the torpedoes.”

A few minutes later, just when the two Bharatiya groups were about to intersect, nearly 40 sharks mysteriously appeared under the water, swimming towards the European fleet at unimaginable speeds. As the European sailors were already enduring the devastation brought by the combined attack of the entire Bharatiya fleet, they did not pay attention to the unknown objects that swam under the sea surface at speeds exceeding 20 knots.

“Boom!”

Muffled explosions echoed throughout the European fleet, and soon several ships began to tilt before slipping beneath the waves.

“What’s that?!” Thomas Herbert could hardly believe his eyes. Right in front of him, more than a dozen warships had begun to sink without warning. These vessels had been positioned at the rear of the formation alongside his own ship. They had taken no visible damage from the Bharatiya fleet, and yet they were going down.

How was this possible?

He did not get too much time to think. Since he could not understand what had happened, he chose to ignore it temporarily and ordered for a counterfire.

Unfortunately, he made a big mistake. Although in the counterfire, he was finally able to halt a few Ramachandra-class battleships, making them sitting ducks, after the intersection ended and the two groups began to sail out from the other direction, the second round of torpedoes was launched, and the second round of bombardment also began.

But this time, since the European fleet had been whittled down to barely 100 ships, the firepower was much more concentrated and targeted, leaving the Europeans no chance to resist.

Before they could know it, the Europeans had lost the battle at sea. The navy was utterly defeated, and they could not even cause any substantial damage to the Bharatiya fleet.

Though they put quite a few Ramachandra-class battleships out of commission, it was nothing to be proud of. Because with the Ramachandra class battleship providing cover, they could not take down even a single wooden battleship of the Bharatiya empire. What’s more, everyone knew that the Bharatiyas, with their industrial strength, could repair what was damaged and replace what was beyond repair in a matter of a month.

A few minutes later, as Thomas Herbert found himself caught in the crosshairs of a cruise missile, he finally understood that the Bharatiyas had created a monster, a monster without rivals. In those final moments, he could already foresee the defeat of Europe as a whole, and a deep bitterness rose in his heart.

With the capital ship that housed the naval leadership blown to smithereens with the concentrated bombardment of several cruise missiles, the remaining sailors flew the white flag and retreated onto land.